Knight fuels second-half surge as LHU knocks off Bloomsburg

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – True-freshman Kyle Knight (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon) had a career day which included three second-half touchdowns and he powered the Lock Haven University football team (2-7, 2-4 PSAC East) to a 27-24 comeback-win over local-rival Bloomsburg University (6-3, 4-2 PSAC East) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action.

Knight rushed for a career-high 174 yards (3 TDs) and threw for a career-high 137 yards (9 of 13, no INTs) to help the Bald Eagles stun Bloomsburg, who entered the day in a four-way tie atop the PSAC East standings.

It marked the Bald Eagles second straight win over Bloomsburg and the first at Bloom in 25 years.

LHU hadn’t beaten the Huskies on the road since the 1992 season, snapping a nine-game road-losing streak to BU. Last season when Lock Haven beat Bloomsburg, it marked the Bald Eagles first win in the series since 2003 and snapped an overall six-game losing skid to their local-PSAC East rival located just 65 miles away.

The Bald Eagles had another big day on the ground and finished with 306 rushing yards.

John Ford (Etters, Pa./Shippensburg Univ.) rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. For Ford, it marked his fourth straight game with a TD and now six of his seven touchdowns this season have come in the last four games.

For the second straight week a pair of true-freshmen from Williamsport, Pennsylvania led the way in the receiving corps. Jalen Jackson (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) hauled in four catches for 51 yards and Elliot Walker (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) had three catches (27 yds.).

Ford’s 7-yard TD run 46 seconds into the second quarter tied the game, but Bloomsburg responded with 10 more second-half points and led 17-7 at the break.

The Bald Eagles came out in the second half and powered by Knight’s strong running, ran downhill on Bloomsburg, who couldn’t stop The Haven’s rush offense.

Late in the third quarter Knight ran 38 yards for a score which cut the BU lead to 17-14. Early in the fourth quarter Knight did it again – this time on a 49-yard run – and put the Bald Eagles up 21-17.

The host Huskies didn’t go away quietly and a Bloomsburg TD with 6:43 left in the game had the Huskies on top once again at 24-21.

With 52 seconds left in the game, Knight put Lock Haven ahead for good and his five-yard TD run – his third TD of the game – put the Bald Eagles up 27-24.

Next week the Bald Eagles open a two-game homestand to wrap up the 2017 season. On Saturday, Nov. 4 (Week 10), LHU hosts East Stroudsburg at 12 p.m. Lock Haven will close the 2017 season on Saturday, Nov. 11 vs. Mercyhurst at 12 p.m.